1. Field of the Invention
Embodiments of the invention relate to pneumatic guns. More specifically, embodiments of the invention relate to pneumatic guns having easily releasable bolts to permit more efficient maintenance.
2. Background
Paintball guns, also referred to interchangably as “paintball markers,” regularly require maintenance and cleaning. When paintballs are loaded into the gun, breakage occasionally occurs and necessitates cleaning of the bolt chamber. To clean the bolt chamber, the bolt must be removed. At times it is necessary and desirable to clean the bolt chamber during competition. A broken paintball can cause the gun to malfunction or function with reduced accuracy. Manufacturers have historically tried to minimize the number of components needed to be removed to keep the operation as fast as possible.
In existing paintball guns having a striker, the bolt is connected to the striker by what is most commonly referred to as a bolt pin. The bolt pin is round and passes through a bore in the bolt and enters a circular bore in the striker. This causes the bolt and the striker to move together responsive to trigger pulls. In this manner, as the striker moves forward to release a gas charge, the bolt moves forward and pushes the paintball into the firing position within the barrel.
Regular bolt pins are typically accessible from the top of the gun. When the bolt pin is removed through the opening at the top, the bolt is freed from the striker and can be removed through the rear of the gun to permit the bolt chamber to be cleaned. For guns that have no top opening, it is not possible to remove the bolt pin in this manner. This results in a considerably more complicated maintenance and cleaning operation for the gun internals as more parts must be removed to remove the bolt to expose the bolt chamber for cleaning.